Honkai Star Rail: Summoning the Chrysos Heirs — Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Chaos Crucible

“Phew… finally, all those troublesome matters have been properly arranged~”

Cyrene felt like a cat missing its bones, sinking softly into the plush mattress of her apartment bed. As the lingering tension bled from her nerves, she stretched her arms high above her head, letting out a long, satisfying yawn. The moment her consciousness fully detached from the Physical Data Space and anchored back into the real world, the heavy, grounding sensation of gravity wrapped around her limbs once more.

She rolled onto her side, instinctively reaching for the smartphone resting by her pillow. Her thumb tapped the screen. A bright white glow pierced the dimness of her bedroom. Looking at the shifting digital numbers, her diamond-shaped pupils froze for a fraction of a second.

“So many heart-stopping events just went down, and I even managed to summon a new companion…” She rolled over again, burying her cheek deep into the cool, soft fabric of her pillow. Her voice came out muffled against the cotton. “To think that only a little over five hours have passed since that disaster broke out…”

The massive disconnect between the subjective eternity she had just experienced and the actual ticking of the clock gave her the distinct illusion of having lived an entire lifetime in a single afternoon.

Knock, knock, knock!

This hard-won tranquility shattered before it could even settle. Less than half a minute after she had buried her face in the bedding, urgent rapping echoed from the apartment door. Immediately following the sharp knocks, a dramatic aria drifted through the solid wood, delivered in a deliberately lowered, theatrical register.

“O Golden Recorder, who engraves all things! You have slumbered for half a day in this narrow place sealed by a barrier!”

The girl outside sounded as if she had her face pressed directly against the crack of the door, her voice rising and falling with practiced cadence.

“The sun has already slanted to the west, and darkness is about to shroud the earth! Do not continue to sink into the whispers of nightmares! Quickly break your own seal and come with me to enjoy that sweet banquet!”

As the grand speech faded, the knocking resumed, even more frantic than before.

Knock, knock, knock!

Cyrene sighed helplessly at the familiar chuunibyou performance. She rubbed her cheek against the pillow with immense reluctance, then braced her hands against the edge of the mattress, struggling to peel her lazy body out of that warm, comfortable seal. Padding barefoot across the floorboards, she reached the entryway, wrapped her fingers around the cold metal doorknob, and pressed down.

The door swung inward, revealing Lin Xiaoya’s face. The girl wore an exaggerated expression of utter disappointment.

“Ho ho ho, are you finally willing to emerge from your barrier?”

Spotting Cyrene, Lin Xiaoya immediately hopped back half a pace. She planted her left hand firmly on her hip and sharply raised her right hand to cover half her face, leaving only one eye visible as she let out her signature haughty laugh. But a second later, she dropped the pose. Her gaze swept over Cyrene’s slightly wrinkled loungewear, and her brows knitted together in theatrical disapproval.

“You have actually been dormant in this apartment for an entire day! Even if today is a Day of Grace with no missions to execute, as my ally, you shouldn’t be so terribly lazy!”

“Mmm… alright, alright, it’s my fault~” Cyrene reached up to smooth the stray pink strands of hair falling around her ears. Her tone carried a soft touch of indulgence, exactly like an older sister coaxing a fussy child.

She really hadn’t taken a single step outside her room today. Aside from retrieving three cups of milk tea from a delivery driver, she had spent the entire afternoon submerged in the Physical Data Space, staring at the holographic light screens to monitor the perspectives of Phainon and Aglaea.

“Then shall we head down to the cafeteria to grab some dinner now?” Cyrene asked casually, attempting to straighten her messy hair with her fingers.

Hearing the word cafeteria, the previously energetic Lin Xiaoya instantly stiffened. She shook her head with violent intensity, her eyes flashing with absolute betrayal.

“This is a Day of Grace! How can we just make do in that cafeteria, a place overflowing with such worldly vulgarity?”

Without giving Cyrene a single second to process the rejection, she reached out, clamped her fingers around Cyrene’s wrist, and spun around to march toward the stairwell.

“Come! Let me take you to the Chaos Crucible, where the karmic fire of the red lotus rolls and the spirits of all things are cooked, to enjoy this final banquet!”

Caught entirely off guard, Cyrene stumbled forward in her slippers, having no choice but to let herself be dragged down the hall. As they walked, Lin Xiaoya kept chattering away, casually dropping more lore into her monologue.

“, the Thunder Tyrant will also be heading there tonight to attend this grand feast, so it is the perfect time for us to gather!”

Being forcibly towed along, Cyrene listened to this rapid-fire string of bizarre terminology, her mind filling with static. Karmic fire of the red lotus? Chaos Crucible? This didn’t sound like a dinner invitation. It sounded like they were heading to a steel mill, or perhaps an active crematorium. While she could usually manage to keep up with Lin Xiaoya’s eccentric train of thought and play along with a dramatic line or two, the vocabulary updates of this self-proclaimed Apostle of Condemnation were simply too fast.

Cyrene felt her internal translation system lagging behind.

The two girls stepped out of the apartment building. The evening breeze brushed against their faces, bringing a welcome touch of coolness to the twilight air. Cyrene finally reached her limit. Quickening her pace to match her friend’s stride, she asked the burning question.

“Wait a moment, Xiaoya. That Chaos Crucible you just mentioned… what exactly is it? What are we actually eating?”

Lin Xiaoya stopped in her tracks. She turned her head, glancing back at Cyrene. Under the flickering glow of the streetlights, the corners of her mouth curled up into an inscrutable, mysterious smile. She raised her index finger and pressed it lightly against her lips.

“Shh. Once you arrive, you will naturally know.”

With that cryptic answer, she pulled Cyrene forward again, ducking straight into a taxi that had been idling by the curb.

The glowing streetscape outside the car window blurred past in streaks of yellow and red. Not long after, the taxi rolled to a stop at a bustling commercial intersection. The moment they stepped out, the heavy, mouth-watering aroma of melted beef tallow and roasted chili peppers hit them like a physical wave.

Cyrene stood on the pavement, staring blankly at the bright neon sign hanging over the restaurant entrance. Her right eye twitched.

Wasn’t this the exact same hot pot joint they had visited just three days ago for lunch?!

She turned her head, staring flatly at the bouncing, excited Lin Xiaoya beside her.

‘If my Remembrance isn’t failing me,’Cyrene thought dryly,’didn’t you call this place the Prison of Ultimate Spiciness just three days ago? How did it suddenly get patched into the Chaos Crucible today?’

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is completely different.” Lin Xiaoya shook her head, adopting a pitying expression that practically screamed, As expected, a mortal intellect such as yours cannot comprehend my vision. “You just need to follow me and witness the truth with your own eyes.”

Utterly baffled, Cyrene followed Lin Xiaoya through the noisy, crowded lobby and stopped in front of a private dining room.

Creeak—

The wooden door swung open.

A thick wave of heat, carrying the intense fragrance of boiling spices and rich broth, rushed out to greet them. Cyrene immediately spotted An Ning sitting patiently at the table, waiting for their arrival. But her gaze quickly shifted to the massive metal pot bubbling furiously in the center of the table.

In that single instant, the grand mystery unraveled.

The round pot was split perfectly down the middle by a curved metal divider. On the left side, a violent, spicy broth boiled over, thick with rolling red oil and floating chili peppers. On the right side bubbled a milky white, mild bone broth, dotted with floating red dates and plump goji berries. The crimson and the white boiled side by side, their steam rising and twisting together in the air.

So that was it.

Cyrene stared at the split mandarin duck pot, shaking her head with a helpless, wry smile.

The last time they ate here, they had ordered a pure, unadulterated spicy broth. Hence, the Prison of Ultimate Spiciness. This time, because they ordered a split pot, the clashing red and white liquids bubbling against the metal barrier looked chaotic and disorderly. Thus, the Chaos Crucible.

The internal logic behind this chuunibyou naming system… it was honestly so airtight that Cyrene couldn’t even find a single flaw to complain about.

[Elysian’s Note: A “mandarin duck pot” (鸳鸯锅) is the traditional Chinese term for a split hot pot. Because mandarin ducks are often seen in pairs, the term is used to describe a pot divided into two sections, typically featuring a spicy red broth on one side and a mild white broth on the other.]